


As Many Ways To Start....

by TwoCatsTailoring



Series: Post-Dawn [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Babies, F/M, Freindships, Gossip, Post-Dawn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 14:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16976487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCatsTailoring/pseuds/TwoCatsTailoring
Summary: When an exhausted Ignis arrives suddenly from Insomnia, burned out and overworked, it is the start of a very busy two weeks for Danica and Gladio. But even with a new family member and a hotel to run, they still have time for wild speculation, gossip, and a touch of spying.They mean well, really.





	As Many Ways To Start....

“I put the cold stuff in the fridge,” Penny whispered as she eased into the nursery, “And Gladio has dinner almost ready. Do you want him to bring you a plate or are you going to brave the stairs?”

Danica brushed a fluffy curl away from her newborn’s head and straightened slowly, only wincing a little. “I’ll come down. She’s completely out now.”

The past two weeks had been a whirlwind. First, 15 days ago she found out she was going to welcome a houseguest. Well, okay... Not so much a houseguest as an extremely high profile hotel guest, but the principle remained the same. The Leville was an extension of their home now. The dividing line between work-life and home-life had become all but nonexistent since they’d bought it six months ago.

But, with very little notice, and the help of the Leville’s retired owners, they’d managed to keep Ignis Scientia’s arrival under wraps. Keeping his presence as quiet was a little harder but they’d managed it well enough. Lestallum learned about keeping things low-key through all those years of harboring refugees from all over Eos.

That was made easier of course by the fact that, 14 days ago, she’d had Laurea. A week earlier than predicted and already absolutely huge. Curious visitors were more interested in seeing the new baby than the hotel guests. Perhaps it was wrong to count it as a blessing but Laurea was fussy. Which meant that guests didn’t stay long.

Now, as his visit was drawing to a close, Danica considered it a success overall. Ignis - he’d reminded her one time, with such intensity, that he was Gladio’s oldest friend and that she was under no obligation to use his title as she was not Insomnian, that she had complied with his first-name-only wishes without much thought - had come here to get away from the crushing stress of his life as the Premiere of Insomnia. And, barring the stitches he’d gotten within hours of arriving, he had. 

He had healed well and had gotten the stitches removed already, but she still teared up a little when she thought about that. Damned hormones. 

Overwork and the flu were the officially reported causes of his sudden collapse during a City Council meeting and when he arrived, Danica could believe it. He had been ghastly pale, his skin thin enough to see every vein in his hands. And he looked underweight, thinner than in the pictures Gladio kept from their younger days in the Crownsguard. His condition had shaken Gladio. More alarming, it took almost no cajoling to get to the real cause of Ignis’s exhaustion.

The man who kept all of Insomnia moving forward was doing so with an office staff of 3. One of which was his dog who functioned as both his eyes, ears, and bodyguard.

Gladio had hit the roof. While Ignis rested, got some fresh air and sunshine, and learned the finer points of tea party etiquette with their 3 year old daughter, Gladio had been making calls and calling in favors to fix that. Danica had extremely worried when he’d started. It wasn’t that long ago that just the idea of the Crown City sent his hands shaking and now? Now there were two small kids in the house and she was still inching down stairs and sitting gingerly because she’d just given birth. But the tears she’d shed over the possibility of Gladio sliding backwards after he’d come so far had proved to be unneeded. 

Ignis had not been thrilled about it once he had learned that Gladio had actually been trying to hire people to run his office. The heated argument that ensued had only been quelled when Danica’s closest friend, Penny, had popped through the back garden gate right into the middle of it.

With no love lost between them, it was no surprise that she had been highly unsympathetic to Gladio’s insistence that he could handle it all. But her support of Ignis making the final decisions about his own staff had been...more personal than Gladio had been expecting.

When he’d been describing the scene to Danica afterwards, she had been just as surprised. 

“I’m not kidding, Dan.” Gladio had insisted as he snapped Laurea into a clean diaper. “She actually said, ‘He’s been doing this sort of thing since you were teenagers.’ How did she  _ know  _ that? Didn’t they just meet?”

Come to find out how she knew that was simple. She knew, because he’d told her as much. With the distractions of having a baby in the house, running the hotel, and calling in favors from friends in the Crown City, they had both missed how much time their friends had been spending together. Gladio’s ham-handed questioning of Ignis revealed that it had started with tacos after she sewed him up in the ER and progressed forward from there. 

Yes, he liked her very much. She was nice, slyly funny, and did not fawn over him.

No, he would not commit to saying any more than that. 

“Honestly, Gladio. Her failure to swoon when you flex is a sign of her good sense not a character flaw.”

At that, Gladio had sputtered to silence and Danica had laughed so long as so hard that she’d woken the baby. But she hadn’t fared much better when she’d asked Penny about it later that day.

Yes, he was intelligent, witty, and good company. Decidedly attractive. 

No, “Buying a man a taco does not constitute a date. Spraying his back with sunscreen doesn’t either. And certainly not putting in or removing stitches from his hand. Drop it, Dan.”

So drop it she had, except with Gladio. For the past five days, it had been the sport of choice in their house and the payoff had been amazing. Now that they were paying attention, it was obvious to Danica and Gladio that this was a whole lot more than just making friends. 

“I haven't seen her blush like that in ages,” Danica hissed as they peeked around the curtains, watching their friends laughing and talking and walking really close together as they returned from a trip to the market.

“That’s the look he gets when he’s flirting with somebody,” Gladio hissed back, his brows knit together in comical confusion that made Danica giggle. “What is going  _ on  _ here?”

The following day, she’d had Gladio shift the rocking chair in the girls’ room to the window and was richly rewarded for her foresight. That night, as Caris slept the sleep of small children and Laurea dozed in her arms she had a front row seat to Penny and Ignis sharing an impromptu Altissian waltz in the back garden. Reporting it to Gladio had been fun, too.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” she’d whispered as she eased into bed next to him a little later, “But isn’t waltzing supposed to be very proper and respectful?”

He’d looked at her over the top of his reading glasses and said cautiously, “Yeeees?”

“Well, then!” She’d given her pillow self-satisfied plump and continued, “You should have a talk with your friend about that. Because what I just witnessed bordered on scandalous.”

His jaw falling open had made her laugh and forced her to admit that they were just holding each other closer than really necessary. And that she was absolutely certain there was something going on between them but she had no idea how much of something.

And no, she wasn’t going to pry! And neither was Gladio! Mind your own business. If they want to tell us, they’ll tell us!

And so it led to a few more days of watching behind curtains and around corners, of clandestine meetings in the bathroom, hallway, and behind the desk at the Leville, gossiping like teenagers. They only nearly got caught one time, and it wasn’t even a ‘they’ situation: Gladio was leaning back in the office chair trying to get a line of sight on whatever they Ignis and Penny were doing in the lobby, only to lean too far and tip the chair over.

Penny was mildly concerned that he’d hit his head.

Ignis was simply heartless, “That’s what you get for being nosy.”

And now, here they were. Ignis was leaving tomorrow, to return to his world of running a country, secure in the knowledge that his very first task was to hire enough people to staff his office so that he didn’t have to see to all the copying, filing, phone calls and other daily things. Not to mention sorting out what to do with the Planning Commission’s proposal to something something about the ring road around the Citadel. Danica had no real idea what any of it meant but she was very happy that he wasn’t nearly as pale, thin, and sickly looking as he had been when he arrived.

He looked happier now, too. Which made her nearly burst with suppressed glee because she was  _ certain  _ that it was because of Penny. What could possibly be better than her best friend and Gladio’s best friend dating? Anything? Nothing she could think of as she perched delicately on her chair in front of the plate that Gladio had made for her.

“You staying to eat?” Gladio asked as Penny checked her watch.

“Can’t. I’ve got to be at work in an hour,” Penny said. “And it’s a twelve. Have you seen Ignis? I want to say goodbye since I won’t see him again before he leaves.”

“He took Enid out a few minutes ago,” Gladio nodded in the direction of the garden. “Should still be there.”

“You want a plate to take for lunch?” Danica offered.

“Nah, thanks. I’ve got leftover curry I need to finish off.”

Danica and Penny said goodbye and Penny was barely out the door before Danica and Gladio headed for the back window.

Gladio got there first. 

“He’s still on the patio, right? Tell me he is!” Danica begged as she arrived and peeked between the curtains. “He is! Praise Astrals!”

Gladio shushed her with a hiss and they watched as Penny crossed the grass, giving off-duty Enid a pat on the head before sitting down next to Ignis on the bench. Danica sighed, wishing that she could hear what they were talking about that was making them both smile like that - so soft and genuine, turning towards each other with their knees barely touching. She swiped at a tear on her cheek, cursing post-birth hormones for making her weepy instead of just about anything else. 

“You think they’ll kiss?” Gladio whispered. “I’ve got 10 gil that says they will.”

“Can’t bet if we agree,” Danica pointed out and Gladio made a sound of agreement.

They watched for a few minutes more as Ignis offered Penny his phone and she fiddled with it before handing it back. 

“Six, if he doesn’t hurry up. By this point, you were probably already pregnant!” Gladio pressed his lips together and huffed.

“Don’t even joke,” Danica warnedd, giving him a swat. “I might have been.”

“Wish I could hear what they are saying to each other,” he sighed, turning back to the window. “It’s still strange to see him interested in anybody. His last two burned him pretty bad.”

Danica huffed, “He’s not dead, Gladio. And it’s not like he’s had much  _ time _ .” But she had to agree on some level. Penny and Wedge split peacefully and without any fireworks but she hadn’t had much interest in anyone since either. 

Not that Danica thought Penny missed dating because she really hadn’t. She never even talked about it. But watching her now, laughing and relaxed, and with someone who’s personality and temperament suited her - not loud or ostentatious, gentle and refined, reserved, with a quick wit and a realistic outlook on life? It was hard not to want this  _ for  _ her.

And judging from the high-pitched hum that Gladio let out when Penny slipped her hand into Ignis’s, he probably wanted the same for his friend.

Danica’s heart soared and she had to wipe another few tears away as the conversation outside continued. Gladio huffed a couple of times before saying, “Do you think I need to go out there and start singing that Kiss The Girl song from Caris’s mermaid movie?”

“Oh my gods, no!” Danica hissed. “They’ll get there! She doesn't have much time though,” she fretted.

As if waiting for that cue, Penny stood up and a second later Ignis did as well. Gladio kept his eyes glued on them but flapped an excited hand at Danica’s arm. “He’s gonna go for it!”

Danica gave his hand a shove away and squeaked back, “I know!” She really shouldn’t be spying on her friend. She really, REALLY shouldn’t. But damned if she was going to stop now. 

As they watched, holding their collective breath, Penny and Ignis leaned in and wrapped their arms around one another, holding on for several seconds before letting go and saying their last goodbyes. Penny then headed in the direction of the back gate and Ignis turned his head towards her retreating footsteps, a small, satisfied smile on his face.

Danica binked. Looked towards Gladio who’s mouth was hanging open. “What just…,” she began, then faltered. Then tried again, “But I thought….”

Ignis whistled for Enid and headed back in the direction of the house, the sound breaking Danica out of her surprised and disappointed reverie. She hustled back to the table, sitting down a little harder than wise and wincing while Gladio stayed glued next to the window in shock.

“Gladi….” She wasn’t able to get his whole name out before Ignis was coming in the back door and right into the perfect storm of Gladio’s confusion.

“What the hell, Iggy?” He began.

“Pardon?” Ignis’s forehead bunched up as he turned towards Gladio’s voice. 

“She was right there!” 

Danica could tell that he was building up to an impressive rant and she knew she was powerless to stop it. 

“She was right there, completely willing, and you just…,” Gladio ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “Ignored it?” He paced back and forth from the window to the kitchen while Ignis took a seat next to Danica. “How can you be that smart and that stupid at the same time?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about Gladio.” Ignis said calmly and Danica thought she caught sight of a smirk growing on his face. “You will have to be clearer.”

Gladio stopped pacing, his eyes wide, and spread his hands, palms up as he gestured expansively, “How could you not kiss her?”

At this Ignis ducked his head to hide a smile before leaning slightly to ask Danica, “Is he doing the Amicitia Gesture of Extreme Distress?”

Danica almost choked on a noodle laughing, “Yes!” There was a NAME for that? She couldn't believe it. And did that mean that his sister did it too? She would have to do something alarming the next time Iris was here to see.

“Ahh, I thought so. Gladio,” Ignis straightened his spine and said, “If ever there comes a point when it is appropriate for me to be kissing Penny, I’ll be sure to let you know. But that time is not tonight.”

“But, Iggy!” Gladio began.

Ignis cut him off with a raised hand, “I have spent the past two weeks recovering from a very trying case of exhaustion and burnout. In the process, I have had the good fortune to make a friend out of the delightful woman who stitched me back up after I passed out on her.”

“Yeah, so….”

Ignis interrupted him again and Danica had a suspicion that Ignis was enjoying this very much. “So two weeks is two weeks. And even in the best circumstances it is not long enough for either of us to decide what we would like to pursue in the future.”

“But, you're leaving and…!”

“Gladiolus,” Ignis’s voice was the pinnacle of amused patience and Danica had a sinking feeling that whatever he was about to say was going to be bad. “Not everyone begins a relationship by taking someone to bed.”

Gladio‘s gasp was absolutely grandmotherly and Danica clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud and waking the children. He had a very good point!

Ignis nodded to Danica and added gently, “No offence of course. You are exactly who he needs. I can sleep peacefully at night knowing that you have him well in hand and can guide him through this very confusing and challenging time in his life.”

“None taken, thanks,” Danica snickered then trailed off.

“However, I am sorry that I must leave you alone with him in this deeply agitated state. Hopefully the two of you can find some other riveting drama once I have left and you can’t peep through the curtains for entertainment.” Ignis gave her a wink and smiled.

“You knew!” Gladio was well on his way to wrapping a shawl around his shoulders and residing on a front porch in a housecoat and slippers if he kept this up.

Ignis just laughed and shook his head.

“Wait, does that mean that you would have kissed her if we hadn’t been watching?” Gladio asked, looking genuinely pained now.

Ignis rose from the table and patted his leg to rouse Enid from under his chair. “No, it does not. Because I wasn’t sure you had been watching until you admitted it yourself.”

Enid’s lead in his hand, he navigated around the table to the back door and opened it in the stunned silence. “Goodnight, both of you. I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning.”


End file.
